Manny is a Marlin? (Tentatively)?

Update-7/31/2008 9:06 am
Trade still not official, however when Marlins beat writers put something up like this I will link to it. I have a hunch this is going to be official this afternoon. It was classified as dead at 1pm est.

7/31/2008 12:08 am
The Palm Beach Post is reporting that a tentative deal is in place to send Manny Ramirez to Florida, Jeremy Hermida to Pittsburgh, and Jason Bay and John Grabow to Boston. The Sox will also cover Manny’s contract for the rest of the season, and Pittsburgh will get 4 prospects as well as Hermida. Win-Win deal for everyone, and who would have thought that amongst the Phillies, Mets, and Marlins, the Marlins would get the impact bat? Certainly not I. How did the Manny era end?(if this goes through) With a fly out to center field in the 8th inning on July 30th, 2008. More links in the morning, and an updated podcast from tonight as well.

The Phirst Place Phillies

Chase Utley is so hot right now he can’t stand in front of a refrigerator without spoiling the food. He hit a homerun in his 5th straight game last night, helping the Phillies beat the Reds 5-4. His defense also ended the game, so this is not your typical one way player. Barring injury, Utley is goig to be the MVP this year, write it down and keep it, that’s a freebie. The Phillies are now a game and a half ahead of the Marlins in the NL East, and they won’t give this lead up again this season.

David Ortiz is out at least a month with a bad wrist, and that’s not good. Wrist injuries are notoriously lingering (ask Derek Lee), but keep in mind when a hitter like Ortiz loses his wrist, he is not the same for a while. It will be interesting to see how this affects the Red Sox lineup, and they start a three game series tonight with the first place Tampa Rays in Fenway tonight with Justin Masterson on the mound.

Kyle Farnsworth proved that he is still Kyle Farnsworth last night, and proved that the Yankees bullpen minus Joba the Hutt(who makes his first start tonight in case you haven’t heard) is in big trouble. I wonder if the Brian Fuentes rumors will have any legs to them (or Damaso Marte).

The Penguins stayed alive with a goal with 35 seconds left in regulation, and then managed to ride Marc-Ande Fleury’s zone to a win in 3 overtimes. This was a long game and I watched it from the start of the first overtime, there is nothing like watching one team keep it’s season alive and knowing that if they give up one goal the season is over.

The Lakers and Celtics series is still slated to start on Thursday. I just wanted to point out how stupid it is to wait this long.

Remember the Sports Vortex has another show tonight, a Celtics/Lakers preview and as always news from around the Major Leagues courtesy of MLB Extra Innings. If you can’t get their live (8:30 PM tonight) remember you can always listen to the show here on the CMSPLOG (upper right hand corner). All the shows are archived.